Railway-rail joint



l. A -HYLE.

RAILWAY RAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION FILED IMY26.192|.

1,38 8,184. Patented Aug. 23, 1921.

Z SHEETS-SHEET l- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JACOB A. HYLE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILWAY-RAIL JOINT.

Application filed May 26,

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, Jason A. HYLE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Rail Joints, of which the following is a specification. I 1

This invention relates to a novel railway rail joint, and has special reference to a new and meritorious improvement in the rail joint bars or plates, whereby the clamping effect against the track rails at and near the juncture of the rails is materially ant practically improved and adapted to compensate for the wear which usually occurs at and near said juncture.

The prime object of the invention is to provide novel, durable, simple, economical and thoroughly efiicient means for safely and reliably uniting and securing the meeting ends of railroad track rails together, saidmeans being adapted to materially increase the longevity of the rail joint.

A further object is to provide a safe,

strong and reliable railway rail joint composed: of few parts, with means for safely and firmly securing the parts together-when properly assembled, said joint including means adapted to compensate for the wear which customarily takes place at and near the juncture of the meeting ends of the track rails.

I Another object of this invention is to so construct my improved rail joint that the meeting ends of the track rails will possess a maximum of vertical strength, to gether with a maximum of lateral strength and rigidity to withstand the excessive strain to which the rails are subjected by the travel of the rolling stock thereon.

Further objects of the invention are to provide a rail joint that will avoid all friction except the slight amount caused by expansion and contraction; to so construct each rail joint bar or plate that the upper reinforced portion thereof. will be caused to be flexed against the lower surface of the tread and the upper end portion of the web of the rail as the wear takes place at and near the juncture of the rails, by the proper manipulation of a wedge-shaped member fitted-therein and simultaneously cause said joint bars to firmly and securely clamp against the base of each rail and the lower portion of the rail web; to provide each Specification 01 Letters Patent. Patented Aug. 23, 1921.

1921. Serial No. 472,755.

joint bar or plate from a single piece of metal formed with an excess of metal at its head and foot portions and a comparatively thin intermediate portion connecting said head and foot portions at and near each end thereof adapted to yield when the wedge member is forced or drawn inward, thereby causing the said bars or plates to fit snugly and securely against the web, tread and baseat all times and without friction.

The foregoing and such other objects as may appear from the ensuing description are accomplished by the construction, arrangement, combination and location of the parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in, the claims appended hereto, itbeing understood that slight changes in the precise form, proportions and minor details of the construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

I In the accompanying drawings which form a part of the specification it will be seen that Figure 1 is a perspective of the improved rail joint embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation with the securing bolts and nuts removed therefrom, and the wedge member broken away.

ig. 3 is a side elevation of one of the joint bars or plates removed from the joint.

Fig. 4 is an end view of one of the joint bars or plates.

Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation taken on the plane of the dotted lines 5-5, Fig. 2, and

Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation taken on the plane of the dotted lines 6-6, Fig. 2.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawmgs.

In the embodiment of my invention as illustrated and'which shows a preferred construction, it will be observed by reference to Figs. 1 and 2, that the track rails 1 and 2 are shown as being connected together by the joint bars or plates 4, each formed with an upper or head member 5, and a foot or lower member 6, said members being connected by an integral slightly yielding vertical web portion 7 at and near each end thereof, forming a longitudinal recess 8 between the web of the rail and said web portion 7, at each end portion of each bar or 12, each bolt being passed through the track rail, and each bolt nearest the end of the joint is passed through a circular opening formed through the web of the joint bars near each end thereof, while the intermediate bolts pass through the openings 9 in said joint bars, all of the securing bolts passing through the joint bars and wedgemembers, and securely fitted to the threaded end of each bolt is a securing nut 13 adapted to cont-act with the outer face of the wedge members, said nuts being fitted so as to alternate on opposite sides of the joint.

It will be perceived that each joint bar or plate at is preferably rolled from a single piece of steel, then sawed to its proper length and punched out ready for use, with an opening 9 therethrough extending from one portion of the web 7 to the other portion thereof, the upper head member 5 being formed with an excess of-metal to furnish the desired strength, and is so shaped as to fit snugly'and closely against and clamp the under surface of the rail tread and the upper portion of the web of the rail, and the foot or lowermost member 6 of said joint Jar is also formed with an excess of metal and shaped so as to contact tightly against and clamp the upper surface of the base of the rail and the lowermost portion of the web of the track rail, the web portion of the said joint bar being rolled comparatively thin with respect to its head and foot-memher, so that when the wedge members are drawn or forced inward into the recess 10, the joint bar will be forced to yield in its thinnest central portion thereby causing its heavy head and foot portions to be flexed to clamp snugly and firmly against the tread, web and base portions of the rail, respectively, thereby holding the joint bars tightly against the rails without friction, the strong heavy head and foot portions of each joint bar in connection with a heavy wedge member adjustably fitted within the recess 10 of each joint bar constitute sufficient material to form an unusually strong, durable and eflicient joint, which may be easily and readily kept tight and is much easier to tighten than the ordinary rail joint usually employed.

It will be readily evident that when the joint wears at and near the meeting ends of the rails by drawing the nuts inwardly on the two bolts nearest said meeting ends the wedge bars 11 are gradually forced inward, said action causing said bars to be moved in closer contact with the web of the rails and more directly between the top and bottom thereof and simultaneously causing the head and foot members of the joint bars to be forced into rigid contact with the lower surface of the rail treads and the upper surface of the rail bases, respectively, thus more direct strength is attained than when the joint bars are away from the rails, and as expansion and contraction cause wear the joint may be drawn closer to the rails from time to time as the wear permits at and near their meeting ends, while the clamping effect of the bars is not so intense at and near the outer ends thereof, at the points where the clamping of the ordinary rail joint becomes most effective after wear, hence the wave motion of the track rail usually produced by the movement of the rolling stock thereon may pass through the joint to the rail ends, thus eliminating the tendency of the breakage of the rail in a plane with one or more of the bolt holes formed near its end, thereby saving annually a considerable amount to the railway systems.

With respect to the rail joints now ordinarily employed, it is understoodthat when they become loose the track rails are permitted to pound up and down at their meeting ends, which action increases the Wear at and near the said ends and extends said wearback from the ends, hence when the track repairer tightens up the nuts the joint will fit tightly at each outer end, but owing to its stiffness and rigidity it will not be caused to fit closely in contact with the under surface to the rail treads at and near their meeting ends, which permits the tendency of a rail to break at one or the other bolt holes near its ends caused by the wave motion of the rails during the passage of the rolling stock thereon, said Wave motion being loose until it reaches the outer end of the joint which is stiff and tight where said motion is caused to stop, then from the outer ends of the joint to the meeting ends of the rails, atand near the latter bein worn and loose so that a space is formed between the joint and rails, thus permitting the wheels to pound on the end of the rails as they pass over, thus causing the ends of the rails to become so battered as to require renewal, while the remainder of the rail is in good condition. 7

By my novel construction of rail joint the battering and breakage of the ends of the rails are entirely avoided by forcing the wedge bars 11 inwardly, thereby spreading and flexing such portions of the joint bars the worn portions of the rails, thus maintaining at all times a tight joint at the meeting ends of the track rails, and when the joint bars become badly worn they can be replaced at a minimum cost in connection with the old wedge bars which may be retained for use.

It will also be evident that the inwardly yielding tendency of the wedge bar at and near the ends of the rails will insure tight nuts at the ends of the joint, and when the rails are caused to creep there is no tendency to pull the ties into a crooked condition and off the solid ballast on to the loose ballast, thus saving considerable labor in digging out and straightening ties when relaying rails, since this joint dispenses with the use of joint railway crossties.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A rail joint of the character described, comprising track rails, a splice bar having an excess of metal at its upper and lower portions and thin yielding web members connecting said portions only at and near each end thereof with a recess formed within its outer face, and means fitted within said recess for causing said upper portion to be flexed or forced against the rail tread and a portion of the rail web between said web members.

2. A rail joint of the character described, comprising track rails, a splice bar provided with thickened heavy upper and lower menr bers and thinner web portions connecting said members only at and near each end thereof with a recess formed within its outer face, and means for causing said upper portion to be flexed tightly against the tread portion of the rails between said web portions.

3. A rail joint including the rails, a splice bar having heavy upper and lower members formed from an excess of metal and thin web portions connecting said members only at and near each end thereof with a recess formed within its outer face, and means fitted within said recess for, causing said upper member to be flexed tightly against the lower surface of the rail tread and the upper portion of the rail web between said thin web portions.

4. A rail joint including the rails, a joint bar provided with thickened heavy upper and lower members and thin web portions connecting said members only at and near each end thereof with a recess formed within its outer face and an opening extending between said web portions, a wedge-shaped member fitted within said recess, and means for flexing said upper member into close contact with the lower surface of the tread of the rails between the web portions.

5. A rail joint of the character described, comprising track rails, a joint bar formed with thickened heavy upper and lower members and thinner integral web portions connecting said members only at and near each end thereof with a wedge-shaped recess formed within its outer face, a wedgeshaped member fitted within said recess and extending the entire length of said joint bar, and means for flexing said upper member tightly against the lower surface of the tread of the rails between said web portions.

6. A rail joint of the character described, comprising track rails, a joint bar formed with an upper and a lower member provided with an excess of metal and thinner integral yielding web portions connecting said members only at and near each end thereof with a recess formed in its inner face and a wedge-shaped recess formed within its outer face, a wedge-shaped member fitted within said wedgeshaped recess and extending throughout the length of said joint bar, and means for flexing said upper member tightly against the lower surface of the tread of the rails between said web portions.

7. A rail joint including the rails, a joint bar fitted to each side of said rails, each joint bar being formed with thickened heavy upper and lower members and thinner yielding integral web portions connecting said members at and near each end thereof with a wedge-shaped recess formed in each outer face and an opening therethrough extending to each web portion, a wedge-shaped member fitted within said recess in each joint bar, and means for causing said upper member to be flexed upward against the lower surface of the tread of the rails and the upper portion of the web of the rails JACOB A. HYLE. 

